Sunday, December 23, 2018

It is
the week of the O Antiphons prayed during Vespers: O Dawn, splendour of eternal light, and sun of justice, come, and shine
on those seated in darkness, and in the shadow of death.

In this
new reality of war, we do well to keep before our hearts that He who is our
Light pierces the darkness and He is the light the darkness cannot overcome.

I remember reciting the phrase about
mourning and weeping in this valley of tears in the Hail, Holy Queen, a prayer
I said often when I was growing up, and being aware at the time of the immense
suffering in the world. Perhaps it was because I was a child during World War
II or because the church talked more about suffering or because we didn’t have
a lot of money. There was a realization that heaven waited up there, that life
here was not meant to be soft and easy. [1]

For
centuries, our Jewish Brothers and Sisters, when ascending to the temple in
Jerusalem would sing-pray a series of Psalms: 119[120] to 133 [134], still
known as the psalms of ascent.They are
powerful prayers for whenever we experience the weight of being deep in any
valley of darkness, tears, fear. It is good to, at the same time, pray Psalms
134 [135]/135 [136], which are known as Alleluia psalms.

This
being the Holy Season of Advent, the season of hope, on the threshold of the
birth of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus, we should turn to teachings that give
hope, encouragement, strengthen faith, openness to absolute trust: in hoc signo vinces, that is, literally
‘in this sign you will conquer’. Our victory is found in Christ, Christ on the
Cross, Christ Risen, and no enemy, visible or invisible, can overcome He who is
in our midst in this moment as surely as when He first walked the earth two
millennia ago: Christ is living now! He
is teaching now, governing now, sanctifying now….[3]

The
first step in participating in Christ’s victory over the enemy, for there is
only one enemy: satan -all human
enemies are but those who do the evil one’s work -is to be grateful for the gift of our being,
at this precise moment in history, for our Loving and All merciful God, Father,
Son, Holy Spirit, creates us, gives of breath of life at the time in human
history, which is salvation history, when all grace is available, should we
chose, for us to become saints, and saints is what the human family needs,
millions of Christ Light Bearers in the darkness, millions of living, active,
icons of His love.

1. “REJOICE AND BE GLAD” (Mt 5:12),
Jesus tells those persecuted or humiliated for His sake. The Lord asks
everything of us, and in return He offers us true life, the happiness for which
we were created. He wants us to be saints and not to settle for a bland and
mediocre existence…. 15. Let the grace of your baptism bear fruit in a path of
holiness. Let everything be open to God; turn to Him in every situation. Do not
be dismayed, for the power of the Holy Spirit enables you to do this, and
holiness, in the end, is the fruit of the Holy Spirit in your life (cf. Gal
5:22-23)…... 16. This holiness to which the Lord calls you will grow through
small gestures. [4]

Evil
always goes for the grand gesture.

Jesus
comes as a small child, not a great potentate; Jesus tells us it is the little
things we do with love, which are done for Him, which lead to eternal life. [Mt. 25: 31-46].

Even
the secular entertainment world cannot ignore the truth about the power of
little things done well for love of Jesus: Galadriel:
Mithrandir? Why the Halfling? Gandalf: I don’t know. Saruman believes it is
only great power than can hold evil in check. But that is not what I have
found. I’ve found it is the small things, everyday deeds of ordinary folk that
keeps the darkness at bay. Simple acts of kindness and love. [5]

Faith is nothing other than the touch
of God’s hand in the night of the world, and so – in thesilence – to
hear the word, to see love. [6]

In this
21st century technology, for all the benefits, is nonetheless the
enemy of silence. Between cell phones and earbuds, people around the world
choose to flee silence and fill their ears and brains, penetrating heart and
soul, with an invasive continuum of noise. People resist turning off, even just
for a few minutes, the cell phone, the music, internet, tv, as if there is a
pervasive fear of silence.

Yet,
drawing on Pope Emeritus Benedict’s wisdom, unless we be still, unless we
embrace, at least for a few minutes the sacred gift of silence, how can we
possibly hear the Word Himself, see Love Himself?

Contemplation is a gaze of faith, fixed
on Jesus. "I look at him and he looks at me":….Contemplative prayer
is hearing the Word of God. ….Contemplative prayer is silence, the "symbol of the world to come" or
"silent love." Words in this kind of prayer are not speeches; they
are like kindling that feeds the fire of love. In this silence, unbearable to
the "outer" man, the Father speaks to us his incarnate Word, who suffered,
died, and rose; in this silence the Spirit of adoption enables us to share in
the prayer of Jesus. [7]

In this
new reality of war, with battles against forces both visible and invisible, the
cacophony of noise prevents us both from hearing the Word, seeing Love, and
hearing the approach of the enemy. This refusal to be still, to listen,
fundamentally is the sin of pride: The
heart of man seeks for solutions to his problems until no solutions are left.
Then he discovers that the “I” in a sense must disappear, become totally identified
with Christ in His silent service to mankind. Yes, there are many silent steps
to take before one comes to the door of total identification. But when you
arrive there, your heart, like those of the martyrs, will receive a new burst
of love, the impulse of a heart which is finally united with the Beloved. [8]

Deep in
the stillness of the night, from a cave near a small town in an occupied
country under the boot of a foreign power, came the cry of a newborn.

The
Infant, the so long promised, desired one, God Himself, Word of God, Light to
shatter the darkness, the Redeemer, He who humbled Himself, not clinging to His
divinity but becoming a human being, in the silence of the night we experience
the touch of God, hear the Word, see love.

The cry
of this newborn Child, this Holy Child is announcement to the Father that ‘I
have come to do Your will’; it is a prayer encompassing every cry of every
human being from birth to last breath; it is a declaration to satan and his
minions the war has begun; it is an assurance to each of us we are not in the
battle alone.

His cry
is taken up by the Angels announcing His birth to the ambassadors of humanity:
poor working people, shepherds, after Mary and Joseph, the first human beings
to adore, in silence, this Child who smiles and whose smile holds the secret of everlasting life. [9]

This
Child, who seeks a room in the inn of every human heart, should we make room
for Him, this Child is our hope, He is our victory, our strength and
consolation, the binder up of wounds, the forgiver of sins, He is.

Friday, December 07, 2018

Since 1963 on the BBC, and seen in countries around the
world, the science fiction series Dr. Who has the main character travel through
time and space in a TARDIS.

The TARDIS is smaller in its exterior than in its interior,
which appears to be an expanse of a seemingly infinite numbers of rooms and
other spaces.

An apt symbol of the Church, for mostly people see the
small, limited exterior: the particular building in which we worship, the
various church institutions, religious orders, etc., rarely entering the
infinite expanse of the Church, to which we can apply that which Jesus says of
His Father’s house, our heavenly dwelling place: My Father's house has many
rooms…[Jn.14:2].

Various things such as a hurricane, a fire, a bomb can
destroy a church building, while a dearth of vocations to the priesthood,
Christ centered marriages and families leads to diminished participation in
Holy Mass, leading to the closing of parishes.

Thus, it is vital, when reflecting upon the war against and
within the Church we keep within and before our hearts: …the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it. [Mt.16:18].

That as Christians we suffer, like Jesus, in union with Him,
should come as no surprise, nor cause us to have anger or lack of compassion
for those who persecute us in anyway: “But I say to you, love your enemies, and
pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly
Father, for He makes His sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall
on the just and the unjust”. [Mt. 5:44] {cf. also: Lk.6:28; Jn. 15: 18-20; Mt.
24: 1-36}

No Christian is persecuted alone.

Jesus is with us: He
fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you
persecuting Me?” He said, “Who are you, sir?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom
you are persecuting.” [Acts 9:4-5]

It is not just within the human family in general, within
individual families, nations, between nations, where anger, hatred, violence
seem to predominate in our day. This is reality, this is the reality of war
within the Catholic, Orthodox, Protectant Churches and between the Catholics,
Orthodox, Protestants as well.

Because Christ welcomes sinful, wounded human beings as
members of His Mystical Body the Church on earth it is a stark reality that the
blemishes, the sins of the members splatter upon the face of the Church.

Thus aided and abetted by satan, there are those who, within
and without the Church, are always on the lookout for reasons to disparage the
Church, to reject Christ, to ignore the Gospel.

This stark reality is not new.

It has been part of the reality of the Church, both the
reality of external persecution and internal divisions, since shortly after
Pentecost!

By way of example: a reading of the Acts of the Apostles
shows both internal sins and divisions, miracles and the transforming of lives
through proclamation of the Gospel; the book of Revelations shows both a
glorious future for the Church on earth and in heaven, and admonitions from the
Holy Spirit about weakening of faith and other internal issues, words
applicable in our own day; during the first nearly four centuries of the life
of the Church while thousands of Christians were being martyred, thousands of
men and women went into the deserts to lead lives of penance and prayer either
as hermits or in community and thus came about, through these Fathers and
Mothers of the Desert, the establishment of contemplative life which, more than
two millennia later, still flourishes; persecution by intimidation draconian
laws, and by blood continues also to our day, yet throughout the millennia we
have also seen, and see in our own day with the formation of new religious
orders and communities of consecrated lay faithful, to care for the sick, the
poor, all those who come to the field hospital of the Church; we also have
seen, from the Great Schism, to the Reformation and also a seemingly
unendingprocession of individuals
‘founding’ their own ‘churches’ that sadly millions of souls are cut off from
the fullness of sacramental life, which only can exist, such as in Roman and
Orthodox traditions, where Apostolic succession has not been broken.

Be it attempts by feudal lords or modern governments to
hamper the Church, or evil regimes such as the Communists, Nazis, Islamic
terrorists, to try and destroy the Church by martyring Christians, , no matter
the seriousness of internal divisions or the sins of Her members, clergy and
lay alike, the Church, because She is the Mystical Body of Christ on earth and
is guided and constantly vivified by the Holy Spirit, experiences the truth
that, as Tertullian said: The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church.Also
animated by Holy Spirit the Church constantly embraces the grace of metanoia,
conversion of heart.

She emerges from all persecutions and scandals, renewed and
holier.

It is too easy, indeed a from of spiritual laziness, to
excuse our own tepid faith, living out of the Gospel, or abandoning Catholic
faith and praxis, by blaming the sins of others, clergy or lay.

Every personal sin wounds the entire body of Christ.

We cannot point the finger at anyone, for as Jesus
challenges to self-assumed righteous seeking to have the woman caught in
adultery stoned to death, who of us is pure enough to cast a stone at the
Church, at anyone?

St. Benedict, founder of Western Monasticism, began
something which established not just profound spiritual growth within
Christianity but cultural foundations which led to the growth of villages, then
towns, then cities, universities, hospitals, literature, science, art.

Rod Dreher, in this book THE BENEDICT OPTION, urges a
re-discovery of this great treasury not simply by the Catholic Church but by
all Christians, noting that: As our civilization seems to be going the way of
the Roman empire, more Christians among its nations are asking themselves – and
one another – how to be latter-day St. Benedicts who preserve the living faith
that gave birth to our own civilization amid empire’s fall. They are awakening
to and claiming the powerful truth conveyed in this saying: “Tradition is not
the worship of ashes but the preservation of fire.” [2]

Wednesday, November 07, 2018

A
powerful scene from the film version of The Lord of the Rings, the Two Towers,
comes to mind as a metaphor for the war we are in, a war which is simultaneously
visible and invisible, the invisible aspect being the more dangerous.

In the
scene referred to, with the focus on King Theodon, as his aide dresses the king
with armour, and the King begins his soliloquy, scenes of the advancing enemy
and of the king’s people preparing for battle, alternate with the speech in
which the most heart wrenching line is: “How did it come to this?” [1]

Given
the extent of anger, hatred, violence, disorder, anguish, fear, increasing loss
of hope within the human family, indeed, “How did it come to this?”

It has
come to this, today and throughout history, because Adam and Eve listened to
the evil one. It is all there in Genesis chapters 3-4.

We are
all bearers of the wounds of original sin.

This is
the origin of how, universally in the human family, it has come to this.

The
late Greek philosopher and theologian, Paul Evdokimov, stresses, when it comes
to human freedom, a gift willed by God for us, this freedom is at its most
‘titanic’ as the ‘power of refusing God’. He also stresses that “The hand
extended towards Christ never remains empty” [2]

St.
John Paul II teaches us that: The
analysis of sin in its original dimension indicates that, through the influence
of the "father of lies," throughout the history of humanity there
will be a constant pressure on man to reject God, even to the point of hating
him: "Love of self to the point of contempt for God," as St.
Augustine puts it. Man will be inclined to see in God primarily a limitation of
himself, and not the source of his own freedom and the fullness of good. [3]

When
Pierre Manet asserts that the word for this reality in which we are now living
is war [4], this is certainty
accurate as connected to the revealed truth the enemy of God, the hater of
Christ, the father of lies, is indeed at war with us, because he and his
minions lost the original war, lost their attempt to destroy Our Lady and Her
Holy Child Jesus: Rev.12.

The
Catechism teaches the gravest of satan’s works is the seduction leading to our
disobeying God: The power of Satan is,
nonetheless, not infinite. He is only a creature, powerful from the fact that
he is pure spirit, but still a creature. He cannot prevent the building up of
God's reign. Although Satan may act in the world out of hatred for God and His
kingdom in Christ Jesus, and although his action may cause grave injuries - of
a spiritual nature and, indirectly, even of a physical nature - to each man and
to society, the action is permitted by divine providence which with strength
and gentleness guides human and cosmic history. It is a great mystery that
providence should permit diabolical activity, but "we know that in
everything God works for good with those who love Him." [5]

The
armour King Theodon wears for the battle is as tissue paper compared to the
armour we are vested with in Baptism: Finally,
draw your strength from the Lord and from His mighty power. Put on the armour
of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the
devil.For our struggle is not with
flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world
rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens.
Therefore, put on the armour of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil
day and, having done everything, to hold your ground. So stand fast with your
loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, and your feet
shod in readiness for the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, hold faith as
a shield, to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet
of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all
prayer and supplication, pray at every opportunity in the Spirit. To that end,
be watchful with all perseverance and supplication for all the holy ones….[Eph.
6: 10-18]

Another
aspect of how it has come to this in our own day, within the human family, in
our own lives, comes from how we choose to dialogue within our selves, the
thoughts and images, the imaginings, we fill our minds with, all these setting
the stage for emotions that often lead to external words and actions.

It is a
salient truth that we become what we contemplate. Our primary contemplation
should not be the self, nor any other human being for such contemplation
inevitably leads to distorted notions of self and other. Rather the one we
should contemplate isour Divine Lord
and God, the Divine Lover of whom we are the Beloved, by trusting Jesus’ word: “….the kingdom of God is within you.”
[Lk.17:21]

A
classic 16th century work, by Fr. Lorenzo Scupoli, titled UNSEEN
WARFARE, eventually came to the attention of St. Nicodemus and St. Theophan the
Recluse, who read and endorsed the work, assuring we have this important source
for understanding the reality of the war we are engulfed in, and must do battle
in: Self-love and high opinion of
ourselves gives birth in us to yet another evil which does us grievous harm;
namely, severe judgement and condemnation of our neighbours….This evil habit or
vice, being born of pride, feeds and grows on pride; and in turn feeds pride
and makes it grow…..[6]

To be
in a church with stained glass windows, when the sunlight is pouring through
those windows, is to be our selves permeated by the multi-coloured light and
beauty. External darkness cannot penetrate any window if there is light within
the church, home, any place.

We
cannot see darkness. What we see is the absence of light.

If
there is darkness within us it is because we have rejected the light of Christ
within us and invited darkness, a.k.a satan, to take abode within our beings.

St.
Evagrios the Solitary reminds us that: …all
thoughts producing anger or desire in a way that is contrary to nature are
caused by demons. [7] True enough, however these thoughts of darkness
cannot penetrate us, nor displace the light within us unless we freely choose
to become fixated on dark, evil, bent towards self thoughts rooted in pride and
disdain for our brothers and sisters.The
resulting dialogue with self becomes communication with satan, rather than
conversation with the Holy Trinity. The resulting cacophony within us drowns
out the voice of God, indeed it becomes ever more difficult to hear Jesus
knocking at the door of our being, that He might have leave to enter and
cleanse the temple of our being. If we refuse to recognize His knock at the
door, refuse to welcome Him in to heal and restore us, then sooner or later, by
word and deed, we will give external expression to all the arrogant hatred and
violence within us.

If we
ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten and teach us, He will help us see that we are,
each of us, members of the one human family. Diverse of colour, language,
religion.

It is the heart that helps us discover
the common humanity that links us all…The free heart frees others. [8] Such a heart is offered to us by Jesus:
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me,
for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. [Mt.
11:29] It is our baptismal vocation to be burden bearers for one another: Bear one another’s burdens, and so you will
fulfill the law of Christ. [Gl. 6:2] …..we, though many, are one body in Christ
and individually parts of one another. [Rm. 12:5]

The
weight of the current reality-war, of so much anger, loss of faith, disruption,
immorality, causing such pain within the human family, should not discourage
us, not cause a loss of hope, for we are baptised into, live within Christ’s
victory in His Passion, Death and Resurrection.

Let us recall that the way of human
maturation is the course of love itself, which goes from receiving care to the
capacity of offering care, from receiving life to the capacity of giving
life.To become adult men and women
means to be able to live the spousal and parental attitude, which manifests
itself in the various situations of life, such as the capacity to take on
oneself the burden of another and to love him without ambiguity. Therefore,
it’s a global attitude of the person that is able to assume the reality and is
able to enter into a profound relationship with others. Who, then, is the
adulterer, the lustful, the unfaithful one? It is an immature person, who has
his life for himself and interprets situations on the basis of his own
wellbeing and his own contentment. [Pope Francis Oct.31.18]

Two
images of the power of one person, fictional admittedly, yet symbolic, and one
person in ‘real life’, as the saying goes, stand as example of what we, in
union with Christ, can accomplish: The first is Gandalf, standing on the stone
bridge, confronting the creature from the deep, and declaring: “You shall not
pass!” [9]In his song-poem, Democracy,
Leonard Cohen starts with: It’s coming
through a hole in the airFrom those
nights in Tiananmen Square[10]…an
event perhaps not remembered by many, but vivid still for those of us old
enough to have watched it unfold, one man, standing in front of a column of
tanks, no weapon other than his personhood, his whole being saying “You shall
not pass.” [11]

[3]
DOMINUM ET VIVIFICANTEM, On The Holy Spirit in the Life of the Church and the
World; Part II – The Spirit Who Convinces the World Concerning Sin; 3. The
Witness Concerning the Beginning: the Original Reality of Sin, 38.2; St. John
Paul, 1986, Our Sunday Visitor Publishing, 1996

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

As I
begin this, thousands of Hondurans, Guatemalans, El Salvadorians, Mexicans are
continuing their long trek to the US. The public claim is flight from violence,
unemployment, poverty. True as those reasons maybe it is highly unlikely this
is a truly spontaneous event.There is
manipulation of these people in the shadows. This and other harsh realities
call for deep and prayerful concern for the present situation and future of the
human family.

I write
the essay which follows, because of what is so widespread within the human
family: anger, discrimination, individual-mob-state violence. Anxiety and
despair dominate, and of all religions Christianity, more than any other, is
under constant assault: in democratic countries by government and media, in others,
persecution by blood. As I did the final edit, this has proven to be much, much
longer than anticipated so is divided into sections. Also, though not my
custom, while I research before writing, this time, given the urgency of the
topic, I am including references to quotations and recommended book resources I
have used as research.

More
than anything else flowing, from this is: my urgent plea we reflect, ask the
grace needed, so that in our suffering, no matter the cost, we become authentic
witnesses to Christ and with Him become ever more compassionate. Should we fail
to do so we shall all find ourselves overtaken by a global, human, catastrophe
beyond imaging.

Mass
illegal migration is the hundreds of thousands of people pouring into the
countries of western Europe and North America. The established populations of
these countries are understandably overwhelmed, and seeing the free housing,
food, medical care offered these illegal newcomers, feel ever more the weight
of their own strained resources to care for their families.

Left
leaning politicians, intellectuals, tv pundits, - the elites - compound the
stress by poorly articulated reasons why the newcomers should be so generously
accommodated. At the same time these elites, who tend to be high income earners
and thus virtually immune to the stresses on ordinary people, assert those who
object to this lavishness to the illegals as hardhearted rightist populists,
less then true citizens/Christians, translation: less human. This extreme
rhetoric only adds to the mounting confusion, righteous fury, of ordinary
people.

There
are many causes of this global spread of anger, violence, anxiety, despair
within the human family: ever higher taxes, yet infrastructures continue to
crumble, affordable housing is lacking, gang violence is out of control, border
security is virtually non-existent, add on the ever increasing cost of food,
fuel, housing, medical care, schooling, the dearth of stable employment, the
war against faith and family, by the elites and we see anger, frustration,
despair weighing ever more heavily on ordinary citizens.

The
tone deafness by mostly leftist elites is a major factor in the rise of
so-called populism throughout the world.

If, as
priests and bishops, we are to encourage people, in the midst of the extreme
stress of life today, to live out the Gospel, in particular Christ’s call to
active-compassionate-love, [cf. Mt. 25:31-46] then we need to live out this
from the Second Vatican Council:Led by the Spirit of the Lord, who anointed
the Saviour and sent Him to evangelize the poor, priests, therefore, and also
bishops, should avoid everything which in any way could turn the poor away.
Before the other followers of Christ, let priests set aside every appearance of
vanity in their possessions. Let them arrange their homes so that they might
not appear unapproachable to anyone, lest anyone, even the most humble, fear to
visit them. [1]

Within
all the dissension in contemporary social and political life, there is one ray
of hope: the rise of moderate populism [2] which engages people to bring back
right order into the life of our countries.

Again
it must be stated that it is the tone deafness of elites to the real concerns
of real people about all that is happening in the world today which intensifies
the anxiety and discouragement, the anger, so as a human family we no longer
see, speak, hear, reflect, make choices based upon people, that is upon every
human being, for we all are children of God, brothers and sisters, one family
created in His image and likeness.

Increasingly
our seeing, speaking, hearing has become a reflexive response that sets the
mind, the emotions, on autopilot hence: all immigrants are potential terrorists
or violent criminals, all politicians are only concerned about themselves, all
elites utterly disdain the rest of us and seek to impose their agenda on us.

More
important than any writing, my primary priestly mandate, a mandate also for
every baptized person, is to pray for every human being on earth, irrespective
of their race, religion, or no religion, social status, regardless be they
friend or enemy. A mandate given by Jesus: You
have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your
enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute
you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for He makes His sun
rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the
unjust. [Mt.5:43-45]

As Our
Lady tells us at Fatima, applicable still in our day: "I am the Lady of the
Rosary, I have come to warn the faithful to amend their lives and ask for
pardon for their sins. They must not offend Our Lord any more, for He is
already too grievously offended by the sins of men. People must say the Rosary.
Let them continue saying it every day. Fly from riches and luxury; love poverty
and silence; have charity, even for bad people. "

All
freedom comes from God, for He Himself breathes life into us and endows us with
free will.

Exercise
of freedom means mature, intelligent reflection upon the options, and a clear
understanding of the consequences, and potentially unintended consequences, of
the choices we make. This obligation of mature responsibility in the exercise
of freedom is incumbent upon leaders in the realms of society, politics,
religion, media, economics, the arts, medicine, science etc., as well.

We must
believe, trust, live out the truth as Jesus tells us: “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what
can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and
trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain
cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel
basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house.
Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds
and glorify your heavenly Father.” [Mt.5:13-16] It is the call to preach
the Gospel with our lives without compromise.

Pierre
Manet notes something applicable not just to the situation in France, but to
all the situations around the world causing ordinary people to be so angry,
frightened, despairing: The word that
fits the new reality is war. A war
against us has been declared and is happening. [3]

There
is a well of anger people keep going to, drawing out buckets of hatred,
frustration, discouragement and all the social divisions and chaos that flow
therefrom. This is of immense danger, global war danger, for the entire human
family.

As Jean
Vanier expresses it: Among humankind,
the family represents that basic social unit. However, everywhere we look, the
basic place of belonging is breaking down……everywhere more and more people are
frightened of commitment. And why is this happening? I believe it is because
out Western societies have placed the power, rights, and needs of the
individual abovethose of the group.
[4]

Only a
radical, rooted in Jesus Christ metanoia, that is conversion of our own hearts,
as individuals, societies, religions, will open for us the door of hope, allowing
us to see hope is not a thing desired, but a person encountered who, Himself,
is our hope, because He alone is the way we seek, the truth we need, the love,
the life we hunger for. Opening the door is not that difficult since we already
know He is here: “Behold, I stand at the
door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will enter his
house and dine with him, and he with Me.” [Rev.3:20 & Lk. 24:13-35]

Monday, September 24, 2018

These days the statement should be expanded to: proven in a
court of law and not in mainline or social media, or screaming mobs in the
streets, as we all witness the tsunami of accusations against public persons in
media, business, religion, education, policing, the entertainment industry.

Innocent until proven guilty in a court of law is rooted in
the Roman maxim: Ei incumbit probatio qui dicit, non qui negat (“the burden of
proof is on the one who declares, not on one who denies”).

United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
article 11: Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed
innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has
had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.

Canadian Charter of Rights, 11[d]: (d) to be presumed
innocent until proven guilty according to law in a fair and public hearing by
an independent and impartial tribunal. [In Canada this means the onus is on the
Crown [prosecution in the US] to prove the case.]

What we are witnessing increasingly over the past several
years, mostly when it comes to accusations of crimes of sexual or physical
abuse of women and children, is conviction in the various forms of media,
accusers NOT going first to the police for an investigation and laying of
charges, but to the media of one sort or another, and triggering a mob-like
reaction among the public, who assert absolute belief in the accuser’s version
and proceed to destroy the reputation of the accused, without a shred or
irrefutable proof that would stand scrutiny in a court of law being offered.

It seems to be becoming de rigour to convict and destroy by
media.

This is not justice. This is unadulterated vengeance. Lives
are destroyed.

Yes, some of the accused may be guilty.

Not all are.

In the use of traditional and social media by accusers,
rather than going through the judicial process first, this enables other people
with their own agendas to flip things and become a mob, using in their turn the
same medias, going after the accuser.

In the end, because due process was not followed, the lives
of both accused and accuser are left in shambles, no matter the eventual
judicial outcome.

The justice system is thus seriously weakened, and the day
will come when the tide will turn, and the ugliness of real victims not being
believed will happen again because the ever fickle media, and the fickleness of
people in general, will move onto some other cause.

This current climate of accusation and conviction by media
is evil.

No Christian, unless abandoning the Gospel of Mercy and
Truth, can be a participant in such egregious breech of the fundamental
principle of presumption of innocence unless guilt is proven in a court of law.

Friday, August 17, 2018

The Second Vatican Council, called by St. Jean xxii as a
pastoral council of renewal has had, in the decades since, enormous unintended
consequences: in liturgical life, the poverty of new church designs, the
abandonment by many religious orders of the charism of their
founders/foundresses, religious habits, common life, lack of vocations, aging
of their members.

Yet the newer orders are vibrant, adhere to common life,
religious habit and have lots of vocations.

The decimation of thousands of parishes and many dioceses, primarily
because of the seemingly unending scandal of priestly sins of abuse against the
innocent, is exacerbated by people leaving in droves because they are not being
fed from the pulpit as they hunger for.

St. John Paul ii, tried to call religious back to wearing
their habits, being faithful to the original charism of their founders and was,
in one egregious example, for doing so, publicly chastised by a nun, in front
of television cameras, while on a pastoral visit to the United States.

Around the streets of the city in which I live Muslim men in
traditional garb and the long dress veiled women are visible.

Priests, religious men and women are not visible because the
women, wearing make-up and jewelry, the priests wearing business suits or
casual attire are indistinguishable from the secular world.

So-called Catholic schools in many countries have been
secularized and the teachers ignore the wishes of the parents, in violation of
the Charter of Rights of the Family and ignore the bishops and priests as well.

The Third Vatican Council should hold sessions on each of
the above and other issues or in the famous phrase of Pope Francis asserting
the Church should be a field hospital soon there will be no one to staff it
and, like as not, the field hospital itself will look like any tent put in
place by the UN or the Red Cross.

If we love the Church, if we love humanity, if we want the
Church to be visible, we should become active participants in a renewal of the
Church, a restoration of holiness, starting in our own lives, families,
parishes, dioceses, religious orders.

That is the first and necessary step towards
restoration/renewal of the holiness of the Church and truly building the field
hospital the human family desperately needs.

We will only take the journey, restore a holy and visible
Church, if we constantly ask the Holy Trinity for the needed grace and Mary,
Mother of the Church, to take us by the hand and lead us.

Thursday, July 19, 2018

The rights of the
person, even though they are expressed as rights of the individual, have a
fundamental social dimension which finds an innate and vital expression in the family….[
From the Preamble of the Charter of Rights of the Family: promulgated by the
Holy See, October 22, 1983]

The Soviets did it, the Nazis did it, the Maoists did it,
now the left leaning governments do it.

The it?

Overriding the rights of the family by usurping the
inalienable rights of parents when it comes to the education of their children:
Since they have conferred life on their
children, parents have the original, primary and inalienable right to educate
them; hence they must be acknowledged as the first and foremost educators of
their children. [op. cit. # 5]

In arrogant denial of the reality happening in various
countries at the national or provincial/state level, through the election of
right or centre right governments, the leftist parties/press/pundits etc. have
been in a petulant, at times viciously angry, frankly whiney-infantile stance
ever since things started to shift, most dramatically with the presidential
election in the United States.

The left is all for ‘the people’ so long as ‘the people’ go
along with the left’s social engineering and remain silently complacent.

Dare ‘the people’, the ‘basket of deplorables and
irredeemables’ as Hilary Clinton named them, while Obama called them
‘clingers’, whereas in truth they are, those not listened to men and women, the
backbone of democracy, hard working families, people who only seek to be heard,
yet dare they speak, the left pounces, demeaning the very people they claim to
be for.

This is the great lie of the left, that they listen to and
care for ordinary citizens: the left is not for ordinary people, it is for
their own leftist determination of how the people should transform themselves
into automatons of extreme socialist notions of human life on earth.

Recently, in Canada, byelections have had the electorate at
the federal and provincial level resoundingly boot the left out. In the
province of Ontario kick them all out all together, and elect a conservative
majority government who recently culled the left’s sex education program,
which, without parental consent taught children, starting in kindergarten,
about sexual orientation, transgender options, copulation and more.

The left and the teacher’s unions across Canada are
apoplectic because they know better than parents which age is most appropriate
for all that to be foisted on underdeveloped brains and emotions. Really?

Furthermore, as the left stresses: clearly parents who
objected to that program are……well name your phobia because they listed them
all.

The oppressive regimes listed above knew, as does the
radical left know, if you want to reengineer society you need control of the
children, at the tenderest age possible, so you can implant in them the mindset
you want.

The arrogance of the left is such that even when the people,
the voters, elect a majority government the left froths at the mouth that the
new government does not have the consent of the people!

Most human beings, of any faith or nor faith at all, are not
on the extreme left or right of religion or politics.

Most could best be described as centre left or centre right,
simply wanting to practice their faith, raise their family, be neighbourly to
everyone.

Victor Hugo’s book, Les Misérables –about the struggle of the ‘deplorables,
irredeemables, clingers’ of his day – shown powerfully in the films and musical
derived from his masterwork, is, for the left, this telling of ground down,
oppressed people interpreted not as the voice of the people in any objective
sense, but as only the people rejecting the oppression of the right and thus
clamouring for the agenda of the left.

In truth, if studied carefully, the teaching is clear: let
any oppressor grind down people by any means, economic, social engineering,
political extremism, etc., and the people, one way or another, hopefully only
by the ballot box and not violence, will rebel.

….the family, a
natural society, exists prior to the State or any other community, and
possesses inherent rights which are inalienable;…..Parents have the right to
ensure that their children are not compelled to attend classes which are not in
agreement with their own moral and religious convictions. In particular, sex
education is a basic right of the parents and must always be carried out under
their close supervision, whether at home or in educational centers chosen and
controlled by them….Every family has the right to live freely its own domestic
religious life under the guidance of the parents, as well as the right to
profess publicly and to propagate the faith, to take part in public worship and
in freely chosen programs of religious instruction, without suffering
discrimination…..The family has the right to exercise its social and political
function in the construction of society……Families have the right to form
associations with other families and institutions, in order to fulfill the
family's role suitably and effectively, as well as to protect the rights,
foster the good and represent the interests of the family. On the economic,
social, juridical and cultural levels, the rightful role of families and family
associations must be recognized in the planning and development of programs
which touch on family life. [op.cit.: preamble D; article 5 C; article 7;
article 8].

The current national and international profound wounds and
divisions, the growing angers and resentments within nations and among nations
is at a point of spinning out of control in ways which have the potential to
become too horrific to imagine.

The Catholic Church in Canada and the US continues to
hemorrhage its people to the Evangelicals because our bishops and priests, many
of them left-leaning themselves, are apparently tone deaf as well.

Unless, like St. John Paul who gifted us with the Charter of
Rights of the Family, and like Pope Francis, bishops and priests become
courageous and steadfastly, boldly, yes even to martyrdom within the culture of
death, make defense of, support of the family, our primary evangelization and
pastoral care service, then, by the end of this 21st century, the
Church in Western Europe and North America will be a very, very tiny reality
indeed, no longer having the capacity to be a field hospital, it may well be
only a tiny wayfarer’s tent.

Do you hear the
people sing? Singing the song of angry men? It is the music of the people who
will not be slaves again…..[ Do Hear The People Sing? From the Les
Misérables musical]

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Unlike in the aftermath of the Second World War when the
displaced peoples of Europe where cared for by the victorious Allies through
various programs, such as the Marshal plan and programs by NGOs, which helped
people either re-establish themselves in the home country, return to their
country of origin, or be accepted as new citizens in Allied Nations, we have
these past many, many years failed to efficiently, compassionately address the
millions of displaced people, displaced by oppressive violence, civil wars,
famine, lack of work with which to earn a living and thereby raise a family.

Mostly from African and Middle Eastern countries, Europe is
inundated; mostly from Central America, but increasingly from South America as
well as the Caribbean, the United States is facing a tsunami of people,
desperate, frightened people, not unlike Europe; Canada, triggered by a frankly
ill-conceived statement by the Prime Minister, is experiencing – like the US
and Europe but so far on a dramatically smaller scale – a river of the
desperate illegally crossing the border.

This global influx of desperate people – men, women,
children, has no disciplined order to it, thus the thousands who drown in the
Mediterranean, the women and children trafficked by the evil men who sell
vulnerable human beings, the small but no less dangerous numbers of criminals
and terrorists who mingle with the desperate and then disappear within our
countries, not to surface until they rob, rape, do an act of terror – is
unending.

Even the most charitable of citizens in the countries
inundated by this flood of desperate people are feeling the strain and
demanding governments get some control over things, while on the one extreme
the disingenuous liberal mindset wants a world without borders – which will be
a world without any rule of law or common sense – and on the other extreme the
rightist mindset wants everyone deemed not to be like us, sent packing.

President Trump, both in a tweet and a recent speech is
adamant he does not want his country “infected” by illegal immigrants.

This reveals a not uncommon attitude which fails to see
frightened, desperate, of perhaps a skin colour, language, religion not like
us, as human beings, as children of God, just as we are.

Do not oppress and act ungodly toward the resident alien,
the orphan or the widow. [Jer. 22:3] Do not rob the poor because they are poor,
nor crush the needy at the gate…[Prv.22;22] Father of the fatherless, defender
of widows—God in his holy abode, God gives a home to the forsaken…[Ps.68:6,7]
The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches
its goal; Nor will it withdraw till the Most High responds…[Sir.35:21]

Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who
are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty
and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed
me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’Then the righteous will answer him and say,
‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When
did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them
in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers
of mine, you did for me.’” [Mt.25:34ff]

It is from the above words of God we must, as Christians,
using the power of love’s creative, compassionate imagination, work
individually, as communities, as voice for the voiceless to push the body
politic and world leaders to seriously address, at their source, the wars,
unemployment, famine, epidemics, violent oppression of people which forces
thousands upon thousands of our brothers and sisters to risk everything to flee
to countries they deem safe, welcoming.

We cannot ignore the thousands of bodies floating in the
Mediterranean, be deaf to the wailing of the more than 2,000 children being
held in cages, separated from their parents who are caged elsewhere in the
United States – protecting our borders, seeking to prevent illegal immigration
should not be at the cost of traumatizing little children.

When the AIDS epidemic seemed unstoppable scientists around
the world worked tirelessly to find Patient Zero, in a word where did it start;
when Ebola was ravaging African nations, the same thing was done: find the
source and work backward from the source to find a cure.

We need to follow the trail of bodies from our borders back
to where this massive movement of populations unfolds, find the triggers,
address the triggers – for like after WWII when the clear majority of those
displaced by the war just wanted to return to their homeland, so would most of
the current displaced peoples return to their homeland if the causes of their
leaving could be addressed and eliminated.

In his 2017 Christmas homily Pope Francis teaches us:
…..Mary and Joseph found themselves forced to set out. They had to leave their
people, their home and their land, and to undertake a journey in order to be
registered in the census. This was no comfortable or easy journey for a young
couple about to have a child: they had to leave their land. At heart, they were
full of hope and expectation because of the child about to be born; yet their
steps were weighed down by the uncertainties and dangers that attend those who
have to leave their home behind……So many other footsteps are hidden in the
footsteps of Joseph and Mary. We see the tracks of entire families forced to
set out in our own day. We see the tracks of millions of persons who do not
choose to go away but, driven from their land, leave behind their dear ones. In
many cases this departure is filled with hope, hope for the future; yet for
many others this departure can only have one name: survival. Surviving the
Herods of today, who, to impose their power and increase their wealth, see no
problem in shedding innocent blood.

Towards the end of the film The Day After Tomorrow, after in
the film the entire northern hemisphere has been plunged into a new ice age and
the survivors, who have lost everything except their lives, flee south: the
character of the President says: “The fact that my first address to you comes
from a consulate on foreign soil…is a testament to our changed reality. Not
only Americans…but people all around the globe are now guests in the nations…we
once called the Third World. In our time of need, they have taken us in and
sheltered us.”

If we keep rejecting our brothers and sisters today, fleeing
towards the north, how shall we be received should the day come when we must
flee south?

Monday, June 11, 2018

Last week the media repeatedly re-told the stories of two
recent suicides by celebrities, mostly stating that “she died, he died”, when
the tragic fact is she killed herself, he killed himself.

The moment immediately prior to the act itself must be the
most alone time for any human being. It is the moment when the mind is filled
with poisoned thinking and lies, the emotions are in profound darkness and
hopelessness, and in that aloneness the yearning to be freed from the pain
disables rational thought and the weakened will chooses to stop the pain,
without the person having any prior experience of the finality of their action,
for death is a one of.

Once the act is done it is final.

Time we avoid the almost banal word: suicide and name it
truthfully: self-murder.

There was a time, before the development of modern
psychiatry, when it was assumed self-murder was a purely free-will act.

The openness of the Church to what can be learned over the
ages from greater understanding of human emotions, impact of trauma upon a
person’s ability to endure physical and emotional pain, put an end to the
erroneous understanding of self-murder always being a purely free-will act.

That said in our day the issue has become complicated by, in
Canada for example, the legalization of doctor assisted self-murder.

Truly we are deep in the cold darkness of the culture of
death.

Often there is intense social pressure, lack of a vibrant
social life, in the lives of individuals who act alone to self-murder, while
often familial pressure, upon the infirm and the elderly forces them to chose
assisted self-murder.

The Church teaches: Everyone is responsible for his life
before God who has given it to him. It is God who remains the sovereign Master
of life. We are obliged to accept life gratefully and preserve it for His
honour and the salvation of our souls. We are stewards, not owners, of the life
God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of……[Catechism of the
Catholic Church #2280]

At the same time the Church takes compassionate note of the
fact that: Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of
hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one
committing suicide. We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons
who have taken their own lives. By ways known to Him alone, God can provide the
opportunity for salutary repentance. the Church prays for persons who have
taken their own lives. [see op. cit. paras: 2282,83]

St. John Paul II reminds us: To concur with the intention of
another person to commit suicide and to help in carrying it out through
so-called "assisted suicide" means to cooperate in, and at times to
be the actual perpetrator of, an injustice which can never be excused, even if
it is requested. In a remarkably relevant passage Saint Augustine writes that
"it is never licit to kill another: even if he should wish it, indeed if
he requests it because, hanging between life and death, he begs for help in
freeing the soul struggling against the bonds of the body and longing to be
released; nor is it licit even when a sick person is no longer able to
live". …. euthanasia must be called a false mercy, and indeed a disturbing
"perversion" of mercy. True "compassion" leads to sharing
another's pain; it does not kill the person whose suffering we cannot bear.
[cf. The Gospel of Life, Ch. III, para. 66]

No government can morally legislate any laws which
contravene Divine Law, therefore such laws require Christians, indeed everyone
who acknowledges or at least knows of Divine Law, to disobey such ersatz laws.

When it comes to human beings, as acting persons we have
free will.

Killing ourselves is
the ultimate abuse of the freedom gifted to us.

If the decision has
already been made it is well nigh impossible to prevent because such of our
brothers and sisters who have made the decision tend to be extremely capable of
keeping their choice hidden until family and friends are left with the profound
pain of not having prevented death.

The violation of charity which is constitutive of
self-murder is made visible in the survivors, family and friends, blaming
themselves for something NOT their fault.

The command of Jesus to love one another as we love
ourselves should compel us to act if we notice someone we love, family,
co-worker, neighbour, suddenly, for example, giving away personal treasured
items, speaking ways not part of their normal discourse, revealing they are
depressed, overly anxious, lacking hope, posting hints on social media.

Our loving, compassionate action may well prevent another
tragedy.

Charity is the total self-gift to other remembering: “If I
give a little, it costs a lot. Give a lot, it costs a little. Give everything,
it costs nothing at all.” {word of Melkite Archbishop Joseph Raya [1916-2005]}

A major contributing factor to self-murder, or assisted
self-murder, is as a society we have forgotten the difference between pain and
suffering.

So much so that in 1984, seeking to remind us of the
difference, St. John Paul II wrote an apostolic letter: Salvifici Doloris [On
the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering]: …..interior maturity and spiritual
greatness in suffering are certainly the result of a particular conversion and
cooperation with the grace of the Crucified Redeemer. It is he himself who acts
at the heart of human sufferings through his Spirit of truth, through the
consoling Spirit. It is he who transforms, in a certain sense, the very
substance of the spiritual life, indicating for the person who suffers a place
close to himself. …… Suffering is, in itself, an experience of evil. But Christ
has made suffering the firmest basis of the definitive good, namely the good of
eternal salvation. By his suffering on the Cross, Christ reached the very roots
of evil, of sin and death…… ….slowly but effectively, Christ leads into this
world, into this Kingdom of the Father, suffering man, in a certain sense
through the very heart of his suffering. For suffering cannot be transformed
and changed by a grace from outside, but from within. And Christ through his
own salvific suffering is very much present in every human suffering and can
act from within that suffering by the powers of his Spirit of truth, his
consoling Spirit. [op. cit. Ch. VI, para: 26]

Pain is treatable, both physical and emotional pain, while
the suffering aspect of pain is a gift to embraced, in and with Christ.

Let us not however forget that it is an act of authentic
self-love to avail ourselves of any moral means to ease pain.

People who self-murder do not opt per se for death as much
as they opt for an end to the pain.

…..although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self
is being renewed day by day. For this momentary light affliction is producing
for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to what
is seen but to what is unseen; for what is seen is transitory, but what is
unseen is eternal. [2 Cor. 4:16-18]

Jesus said, “I have come that they might have life and have
it abundantly” (John 10:10).

Let us pray for our brothers and sisters who are in the most
alone moment that they will hear Jesus knocking at the door of their being
[cf.Rev.3:20], open to Him, allow Him to fill them with His light and love.

Friday, May 18, 2018

When I was mandated to
enter the hermitical life, my spiritual director told me, by checking the news
channels of various countries, to stay aware of everything impacting our
brothers and sisters throughout the world, amid the culture of darkness and death,
to treasure every human being in my heart, offering each Holy Mass, everything
I am and do as intercession for everyone, with love.

As I write, millions
are anticipating a joyous event, the marriage of Prince Harry and Megan, while
yet again there is grieving in the Unites States in the aftermath of yet
another school shooting.

This is the intense
paradox of human beings – our capacity to love, to commit to one another, to
life, and our capacity for hate, hate that morphs into violence.

In his book KING LEOPOLD’S
GHOST, Adam Hochshild makes a seminal statement:….the
world we live in – its divisions and conflicts, its widening gap between rich
and poor, its seemingly inexplicable outbursts of violence – is shaped far less
by what we celebrate and mythologize than by the painful events we try to
forget. [ from: Ch. 19- The Great Forgetting, 1999 ed.]

In 1826 James Fenimore
Cooper published his THE LAST OF THE MOCHICANS.

What is fascinating
about this novel is it shows how the European powers, in their conquest of the
Americas, took advantage of the pre-existing hatreds, wars, cruelty, slavery
existing among the Indigenous peoples by, for example the French and British,
who used these pre-disposed enemies of each other, such as the Iroquois and the
Huron, to further their attempts to dominate the fur trade, gain more
territory.

Cooper, long before
Hochshild, shows a fundamental sin among human beings: hatred morphing into
violent attempts, sometimes successful, to dominate those deemed ‘not like us’.

Nowadays individuals,
groups, even governments expend inordinate amounts of energy in the blaming of
others for all woes, even engaging in revisionist history to assert their
insatiable demands for re-dress, going so far as to override natural law, which
is Divine Law, itself inscribed in every human heart, when it comes, for
example, to the sacredness of human life from the womb to the tomb, the
sanctity of Holy Marriage, the objective God created reality of us as human
persons who, in His image and likeness are indeed, male and female.

In stark contrast to
this hate filled, blaming, death dealing, divisive, cognitively dissonant
century, is Jesus.

Jesus who teaches us
how, by His words and example, to de-poison our hearts, to escape the painful
bondage of memories we cling to with anger, bitterness, blaming, for in
refusing to forgive, in refusing to allow the open wounds to be healed by
choosing not to be a perpetual victim never able to be satisfied with any form
of re-dress, be it through the justice system, financial compensation, having
society change to adjust to us, in a word only imitating our merciful and
forgiving Jesus can we be restored to the sanity with which we were born, only
through authentic forgiveness and loving those who have hurt us can we finally
become mature, free, whole, indeed holy, persons: Mt. 18: 21-25; 6:95; Lk.
23-24.

Every race, religion,
nation, tribe, clan, family, individual on earth, because satan and sin exist,
has been/is sinned against or has/does sin.

This is the stark
reality of having free will, a gift so precious God does not take it away from
anyone, no matter how that person may abuse freedom to hurt, damage, dominate
other[s].

Satan wants victims to
be perpetually so.

Christ wants victims
to be healed and set free, but that means exercising free will to accept the
offered healing.

When as an individual
person, or as a member of a group of persons sinned against, we refuse to
forgive those who have/or the one who has sinned against us, we remain
prisoners, perpetual victims and the victimizer retains their power – a share
of satan’s power – over us.

Thus, refusal to love,
to do good to those who persecute, to forgive our enemies, means allowing
poison to become such a part of us our minds, hearts, bodies, souls are
perpetually infected.

We can become enmeshed
in a culture of victimhood, become insatiable with a relentless demand for a
redress than can never cleanse us of the poison or free us from the dank and
lonely prison we refuse to leave, even when, as He did for Lazarus, Jesus
flings open the door, calls us forth, orders we be unbound.

St. Matthew chapter 5
is the template for becoming unbound, unvictimed, freed, is the template also
for authentic Christian living.

It is within this,
frankly insane 21st century, I have become a stranger – which I take
as a blessing – living amid a human family, in a country, I no longer
recognize, understand less and less.

Somehow it as if we
have become bit players in the Scottish play!

From: The Tragedy of
Macbeth: Act 4-Scene 1: William Shakespeare: Second Witch: By the pricking of
my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes. Open, locks, Whoever knocks! Enter
MACBETH: How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags! What is't you do? ALL: A deed without a name. MACBETH: I conjure you, by that which you profess, Howe'er
you come to know it, answer me: Though you untie the winds and let them fight Against
the churches; though the yesty waves Confound and swallow navigation up; Though
bladed corn be lodged and trees blown down; Though castles topple on their
warders' heads; Though palaces and pyramids do slope Their heads to their
foundations; though the treasure Of nature's germens tumble all together, Even
till destruction sicken; answer me To what I ask you.

Macbeth himself
embodies the hubris and narcissism so prevalent in our contemporary society.

By using this
character and his story Shakespeare has given us a study of the psychology of,
indeed the philosophy of evil we would do well to study, that we might defend
against evil with all the tools given us by the Holy Spirit.

The ancient Greeks
with their panoply of gods, associated stories, their philosophies, had a fair
grasp of the human condition.

Our modern word Hubris
derives from the Greek concept of extreme overconfidence in oneself, including
behaviour which challenges the gods.

Narcissus, the son of
a river god and a nymph, was in bondage to pride to such an extent he disdained
others, even those who loved him, so the gods dispatched one of their own,
Nemesis, to deal with him. She lured him to a deep pool of water where, seeing
his own reflection, he was transfixed. Unable to turn his gaze away from
himself, he lost his will to live and died.

In Western countries
it is the hubris and anti-god pride of baptized men and women in government,
the supreme courts, universities, etc., who, having discovered they are smarter
than God, have set in motion the relativism, and all the culture of death
flowing therefrom, as a tsunami of darkness engulfing human beings.

Blindly carrying on
their agenda, with apparently no idea they are so embedded in cognitive
dissonance it escapes them they are being persistently seduced by the god
Nemesis, a.k.a., satan.

“The devil is a great
liar. Don’t talk to him or even get close. He tries to seduce and like a
chained rabid dog, if you caress him, he bites…….He has this ability; this
ability to seduce. This is why it is so difficult to understand that he is a
loser, because he presents himself with great power, promises you many things,
brings you gifts – beautiful, well wrapped – -‘Oh, how nice!’ – but you do not
know what’s inside – ‘But, the card outside is beautiful.’ The package seduces
us without letting us see what’s inside. He can present his proposals to our
vanity, to our curiosity…..“ [excerpts
from a homily of Pope Francis, May 8.18]

We need to see evil
for what it truly is: the disingenuousness of those who rail about climate
change and keeping fossils fuels in the ground – all the while unwilling to
forego the diesel trucks that bring their organic food to market; past the
mentality which ignores the stark reality no matter how many laws and temper
tantrums to the contrary, no two people of the same gender can ever have a true
marriage, and it matters not a wit the extent of liturgical babble, no woman
can be ordained in persona Christi, because what is lacking in the first
example is common sense and honesty and in the latter two examples, are the
essentials for the Holy Spirit to make sacrament real: proper matter and proper
form.

And to another He said, “Follow me.” But he
replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” But He answered him, “Let
the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
[Lk.9:59-60]

It is a struggle as I
write this to avoid the pitfall of listing and detailing all the various
elements of contemporary life in my own country and throughout the world which
have led to the awareness I am indeed – and frankly blessedly so – a stranger
in a strange land.

The child’s father and mother were amazed at
what was said about Him; and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,
“Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to
be a sign that will be contradicted and you yourself a sword will pierce so
that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” [Lk. 2:33-35]

Then the dragon became angry with the woman and
went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring, those who keep God’s
commandments and bear witness to Jesus. [Acts. 12:17]

As far back as 1979,
writing under his given name of Karol Wojtyla, in his book SIGN OF
CONTRADITCION, St. John Paul teaches that whoever is:….strong with the strength given him by faith does not easily allow
himself to be thrust into the anonymity of the collective….

Jesus comforts,
strengthens, mandates, reassures us in our vocation to be signs of
contradiction in imitation of Himself.

We should not fear
what they may to do us, anymore than St. Maxmilian Kolbe or St. Benedicta of
the Cross, both martyred in the past century by the Nazis.

Jesus assures us He
has come to bring fire upon the earth, the fire of love, of metanoia, of life
[cf. Lk.12:49], that by the power of the Holy Spirit and the sacrament of
Baptism we are indeed, amid the culture of darkness and death: light! [cf.Mt.5:14].

Become strangers in
this strange land of the 21st century we need not fear being lost,
for we only need keep our eyes fixed upon, our hearts attentive to He who is
our way, our truth, our life. [cf. Jn.14:16]

Already in the 3rd
century men and women had gone deep into the deserts, away from the chaos, to
pray, fast, intercede for the human family.

Among the greatest of
these: Abba Anthony, known as the friend of God.

Aware the future – for
these holy men and women of the desert kept informed about the outside world –
was likely going to be even more chaotic, some of the monks came to Abba
Anthony before he died and asked his vision of the future: “The day will come
when they will come to us and tell us we must be crazy because we are not like
them!”

As a stranger in this
strange land of Canada, this strange land of Western democracies I note: the
day has come.